The Next Phenomenon: Jay Bouwmeester

By Trenton Allen

April 6th, 2000

When you see this kid play, you know you are seeing greatness. He canskate with the best of them, make tape-to-tape passes blindfolded, and hisvision of the ice and the play that is unfolding is unsurpassed. Who am Italking about? Who else. Jay Bouwmeester.

This 16 year old star in the making of the Medicine Hat Tigers has justfinished his first season in the WHL. Few defensemen before have stepped inat his age and done as much as this young man. Quarterbacked the powerplay,got to play some shorthanded situations, and was often a catalyst on a teamthat many nights was severely lacking in the offensive department.Bouwmeester finished his season with 64 games, 13 goals, 21 assists and 34points. The assists total would have been much higher on a team that had afew finishers. Next year, with players such as Ryan Hollweg gaining inexperience, watch that total rise. Probably the best part of watching himplay is that you get the felling that, as good as he is, he’s capable of somuch more. When ever he gets the puck you get on the edge of your seat notknow if your going to see just another dump-in, or watch Bouwmeester make abrilliant end-to-end rush. Probably the best thing about watching him play,and the worst thing for all other teams in the WHL, is that you know thathe’s only scratched the surface of what he can do.

If any reporters are reading this article, here’s a little advice aboutdoing an interview with Jay Bouwmeester. First, wear stilts. At 6’4, 199lbsand still growing, you’ll need them, unless you don’t want to see who youare speaking to. Second, don’t ask Bouwmeester questions about one subject;himself. He’ll talk for hours about the experiences he had at The WorldJunior Championships in December and January. That’s no problem. Ask himwhat he feels are his strengths in his game or what he feels he can bringto his team and it’s like someone cut out his tongue. As a reporter, I knowthat it can be frustrating to try to conduct an interview with someone likethat. However, as a fan of the greatest sport on the planet, it’srefreshing to see that not only is every one wrong about how Canada is notproducing top level talent anymore (Watch for Jason Spezza to be number 1pick in 2001 entry draft and Jay Bouwmeester in 2002), but also we areproducing talent that is humble. If you don’t think the NHL needs a littlemore athletes like that then you haven’t been introduced to Brett Hull.Hull’s a good athlete. Ask him. He’ll tell you so. Introducing this kid tothe NHL in 2002 will be like a breath of fresh air, as long as all thosemillions of dollars don’t go to his head.

So interviewing Jay Bouwmeester about Jay Bouwmeester is rather achallenge. However I did get a little out of the interview. Mostimportantly, the attention he is getting hasn’t effected him yet. He saysthat all the attention doesn’t bother him and he just goes out and playshis game. That’s good news. As an avid watcher off hockey not only at theNHL level but at junior as well, I feel that we are producing just as muchtalent as is the U.S.A. or Europe, but we are constantly ruining thattalent but badgering those young players with comparisons to other greatsand expectations that are too high. I hope that as the attentionsurrounding Bouwmeester intensifies, he continues to display the same poseand determination that he has this season. He actually goes on to say thathe doesn’t wish for all the attention to stop, almost as if he likes it.Hopefully he does like it, because he probably has another 20 years off itahead of him.

Bouwmeester has many natural talents at his disposal. Even before he stepson the ice you can’t help but notice the first one: his size. 6’4 and stillgrowing! He could hit 6’7 easily. Imagine a 6’7 defenseman that can movethe puck like he does. Scary. Also, his vision of the ice is noticeable. Heknows where everyone -on both teams- is at all times. He is solid in hisown zone and uses his size and strength well to angle opposing forwardsinto the boards in his own zone. The only complaint I have about his playis he could use a little bit of a mean streak. But at 16 years old in theWHL, who couldn’t? I mean he isn’t Jordin Tootoo (If your a fan of the WHLthen you’ll know Tootoo and if your not then you don’t know what yourmissing). I think as time will go by, You’ll see Bouwmeester start hittingpeople with a little more authority. However, I don’t see a mean streakdeveloping in him that will allow him to be considered a Chris Pronger orRob Blake. Which brings me to my next and final point.

As the 2002 entry draft gets closer, the comparisons to other greats ofthe game, both past and present, will emerge. This is something I don’tlike. While it does help fans and GM’s to relate to the information beingpassed on by scouts, it in no means helps most of the kids. A few can usethose comparison as motivation but most find it rather intimidating. Inthe case of Bouwmeester, the comparisons already abound. How this willaffect him still has to be determined, but the haunting memories ofAlexandre Daigle are still planted firmly in my mind. No telling what hecould have done if people would have just stepped back for a minute andthought to themselves “this kid is going to be a great player but he’s only18 and I need to lay off of him for a while”. Maybe Daigle would have beenan all-star right now instead of a minor-league call-up. Besides,Bouwmeester isn’t going to be the next Paul Coffey, Ray Bourque, SandisOzolinsh or Bobby Orr. Jay Bouwmeester is going to develop into JayBouwmeester, plain and simple. Hopefully that’s enough for the hungryCanadian eye, always looking for the next superstar to save them from thishockey hardship everyone is crying about.

The entry draft in 2002 should be an interesting one. Normally, I’d writeabout the interview that I had with Bouwmeester but, due to his rather shyand humble nature, there really isn’t one. I think he said more wordsintroducing himself to me then he did during the interview. So instead I’vedecided to talk about him through my eyes. The Jay Bouwmeester I see. Andthis fan really likes what he sees.